The disconnect of almost all world political leaders from science and technology is well documented. Peter Wilby's critique of The Blunders of our Governments makes an equally compelling case for what we have all long suspected: the total lack of awareness on the part of our ruling regimes regarding the needs, desires and day-to-day existential demands of most of their electorate – or should that read "subjects?"

Will Hutton's conclusion that the current Californian "Silicon Valley" example is one we should emulate is surely based on an idealistic view of world society: one where venture capitalism collaborates with information technology/social media and wise, benevolent government, in order to bring about a new version of the industrial revolution, but this time with fewer or no casualties.

I'm sorry, Will. The momentum of short-term exploitation of people and resources, which exemplifies the present model of capitalism in vogue world-wide, will not easily be stopped, or even slowed down, simply by asking Apple to slap on a few more human-friendly apps or seeding clouds with seawater. It will require a much more radical reappraisal of our core values and methods of choosing our leaders to achieve the necessary turnaround. We can only hope we're not already too late to make the change.Noel BirdBoreen Point, Queensland, Australia

• In Alok Jha's article about geoengineering (20 September), the astronomer royal Lord Rees appropriately describes such action as "an utter political nightmare". Two of the strategies under consideration are cloud seeding and the injection of sulphate particles into the upper atmosphere, in both cases with the intention of reducing the solar radiation reaching the earth. However, such an approach would mean that both thermal and photovoltaic solar panels would work less efficiently, thereby increasing the demand on carbon-based energy sources. Thus these approaches might prove to be self-defeating.

As Lord Rees says, the time to start decarbonising the world's power generation is now.Roger BrowneAlexandra, New Zealand

Keep Kenya's aquifers safe

The discovery of vast aquifers in the arid areas of north-west Kenya (20 September) is good news indeed as it has the potential to transform the livelihoods of the people in the area. I worry, though, about our exploitation of this valuable resource and suspect that it will end up being plundered rather than used carefully and sustainably.

The first steps to take would be a) accurately determining the recharge source(s); b) finding out the rate of recharge; and c) aggressively protecting the recharge watershed. Collectively, our history of resource exploitation suggests that this will not happen and opportunists will already be plotting how vast sums of money can be made from the discovery.Stuart WilliamsKampala, Uganda

Migration policy myopia

Re: Migration debate "needs to change focus" (20 September), there's a blind spot in the global debate over migration and that's exactly the way the new Australian government likes it. By only communicating select information about the arrival of asylum seekers in its waters, they use this blind spot to their advantage. The blind can only lead the blind.

Never mind the International Organisation for Migration report mentioned in the article, which states that migrants between poor countries fare poorly and are unlikely to feel optimistic about their lives. Never mind that the burden of refugee crises across the globe already fall on disadvantaged nations. Never mind that Australia is the envy not only of poor nations, but rich ones as well.

Ignore these realities and the border between the rich and poor – the sovereign border – will be secured.Eddie TikoftPerth, Western Australia

Keep Greens off the fringe

At last a mention of the UK's Green party in the Guardian Weekly (UK News in brief, 20 September). And a clue as to the inclusion of the tiny article? The Green party leader is a former Guardian Weekly editor.

Why the almost total lack of coverage of any other than the major parties? Even the current percentage of the vote smaller parties receive in UK elections is a mystery to me.

Here in Australia the Greens are a much stronger political force and its players and policies command a high profile in the media, albeit often a negative one in the Murdoch-dominated press. However, if coverage of Green party policies in the broader British press is as poor as that in the GW, then surely the UK Green party is doomed to remain on the fringe.Gabby WhitworthTasmania, Australia

IOC must confront Russia

Owen Gibson's critique of the new IOC president, Thomas Bach (September 20), was a welcome change from the usual worshipful treatment of all things and all men Olympic.

However, Gibson omitted one significant act reported in other media.

After Bach had received the congratulatory phone call from President Putin, he "joked" to reporters that they had not discussed Russia's anti-gay law. To trivialise this issue, one of the biggest challenges facing the Olympic industry since the bribery scandals, is more than just a bad beginning to Bach's presidency. It's one more indication of the IOC's moral bankruptcy.Helen Jefferson LenskyjToronto, Ontario, Canada

Much ado about doing

I found your banner headline Merkel's mantra: "Do as we do" (13 September) very interesting. Far from only being the mantra of Germany's Angela Merkel, it is probably one of the world's most used and the cause of the vast majority of wars. If only we could all adopt a philosophy based on the Indian expression "paach angulia bara bara nahin", meaning that on one hand the fingers are all different but they work very well together.David MurrayMontbrun-Bocage, France

• An old saying, but still a valid one: He who pays the piper calls the tune.Bronwyn ShermanTutukaka, New Zealand

Leave family out of women's careers

In reference to Rowan Moore's article: Zaha Hadid: queen of the curve (20 September), we are not aware of any proven relevance of a partner or children to an architect's creativity or career. Indeed in Moore's piece on Richard Rogers in July this seems of no real significance. When will the unnecessary noting of a successful women's family life, appearance or fashion be recognised as simply another form of misogyny? Were you just throwing us a curve ball or have you already forgotten your rightful indignation at the similar treatment of Julia Gillard?Melissa HamiltonMugnanese, Loc Gioiella, Italy

Briefly

• Re: Henry Porter, Britons and privacy (13 September). It may be that Britons who do understand privacy to be important have also, rightly, always presumed that it has never existed on the internet. But the government that tells us that if we have done nothing wrong we have nothing to fear from exposure also fears its own activities being exposed.

Our real fears are that the agencies will then misinterpret the information they procure. They did on intercepting Iraqi communications actually referring to the long ago destruction of the country's weapons of mass destruction, and judging by the amount of car parking around NSA and GCHQ offices in Cheltenham, they cannot work out bus timetables. And of course it is those being spied upon who are paying for the spying.Adrian BethamLondon, UK

• I am an 85-year old male born in England and can honestly say Nancy Blackett, intrepid captain of the sailing dingy "Amazon", was the fictional hero who shaped my life. Somehow Kate Mosse (Where have all the brave girls gone? (20 September) must have missed out on the Manchester Guardian's wonderful Arthur Ransome who wrote about the Swallows and Amazons in 12 books, detailing these amazing children from the Lake District. Recently I received pictures of an Arthur Ransome festival held near Henley-on-Thames. My granddaughter and all the girls there wanted to play the part of Nancy Blackett. Tony TaylorVictoria, British Columbia, Canada

• I liked David Shariatmadari's piece on the threat of plastic bank notes (20 September). He can rest assured that if he ventures outside the eurozone and Anglo-Saxonia, he'll still find some fabulous paper notes. Steve MorrisTonbridge, Kent, UK